A Very Special Family Day {The Full Report}

A couple of years ago, I kept a "Jehovah Jireh" page in my planner - a spot to write down ways that God unexpectedly blessed us, mostly in the financial realm.  It was certainly faith-building to record the manifold ways He provided for us, and my heart of gratitude overflowed as I remembered His blessings.

I haven't been keeping a list like that this year; but if I were, this would be on it in big letters:

WE WERE GIVEN FIVE FREE TICKETS TO SIX FLAGS AMUSEMENT PARK!

Five.  Free.  Tickets.  That, my friends, equals a whole lot of money!!  :)

These tickets were a special blessing because earlier this year, we did not make our traditional trip to Kings Dominion because they didn't have a homeschool day, as they have in years past (2010...2011...2012).  Buying amusement park tickets at full price is simply not an option for us, so we broke the news to our disappointed boys that we wouldn't be able to go this year.  Little did we know that God would give us the opportunity to try out a new-to-us amusement park later in the year!

Since Moriah was young enough to be free, we only had to buy a ticket for Shav, and the rest of us were covered with the free ones - an astonishing provision!  I really can't get over it.  :)

And so we set off on a cool September morning, eager for a day of fun...

The first ride we found after arriving at the park was this merry-go-round (or carousel...I tend to favor merry-go-round while Jeff usually says carousel...oh, well, no big deal...tomato, tomahto).  :)  The boys really liked this one because of the variety of wild animals on it - not just horses!

Josiah's a little obsessed with ostriches right now, so he was happy to ride on this fine specimen.  :)

 This was in the kiddie section of the park and was actually a snoozer of a ride for David; but he, being the dramatic boy that he is, tried to make the best of it.  :)

 Tobin and Shav got to ride a little train.

One of the favorites of the day was being inside this building where there were tons of soft foam balls and you could shoot them at each other.  All the boys, from big to small, had fun with this.  :)

I tried to do a selfie with Moriah.

I'm not very good at them.  ;-)

And then Moriah got to walk, and she was so very happy.  :)

All summer she's been going barefoot; but with our weather suddenly being cooler, it dawned on me that I needed to get some shoes for her, since she didn't have any that fit.  Last winter she wasn't walking; and even though I put little shoes on her from time to time just for the look of it, she always kicked them off pretty quickly, which wasn't a problem really.  But obviously I couldn't let her go barefoot all winter long this year!  :)  I actually bought these shoes for her the day before this trip, and this was the first time she had gotten to walk in them.  It's a good thing she liked them!  :)

David is such a devoted big brother.  :)

Tobin and Shav ride...

...while Moriah stands outside the fence and watches.

Remember the kiddie ride David was so bored on?  Well, here's the real deal...

...The Tower of Doom.

Jeff convinced Josiah and David to go on it with him (I volunteered to stay on good ol' terra firma; after all, somebody had to watch the little ones!)  ;-) ...

...and up...

...and up they went.

And then they came down.  Quickly.  So quickly that I couldn't even effectively capture the moment with my camera.

But when he got off, David kissed the earth, so maybe that tells you something.  ;-)

Josiah, David, Tobin, and I went on this one, although you can't see Tobin and I in this picture.

Moriah fought sleep as hard as she could, but finally - around 3:45 p.m. - it won.

I'm pretty sure it was the longest she'd ever been awake before, since she's still very much a two nap a day kind of gal.

Josiah and David went on this ride.

And Moriah slept on.

Tobin and Shav on the helicopters...

Jeff took David, Tobin, and Shav on this ferris-wheel-type thing.

My favorite ride of the day was this water ride (although riders hardly got wet, so it wasn't much of a water ride!) that I went on with Josiah, David, and Tobin.  The line was the worst we encountered all day, and I didn't enjoy that; but the ride itself was a whole lot of fun!

Jeff, waiting at the bottom for us, timed it right to get this picture of us.  :)

We rode a few more rides (and some that we rode earlier were not pictured, because after all, even a devoted camera woman can't get a picture of everything!).  ;-)  As a matter of fact, we stayed there and rode rides all the way until the park closed.  And then as we walked out, we paused for one last picture.

As we drove home, we munched on chicken, carrots, and cinnamon buns while the sky got dark.  And my heart sang a refrain of thankfulness to God for the gift of such a special family day!